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Soviet-Japanese War (Soviet-Japanese War)
The Soviet-Japanese War (Russian: Советско- японской войны, tr. Sovetsko-Yaponskoy Voyny; Japanese: ソ連対日参戦) was the theatre of World War II that was fought in North and East Asia. It was fought over a very vast area that included the entire Soviet Far East and Siberia in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Manchukuo, and in China. It was fought in a series of fierce battles and skirmishes between the forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan, as well as their puppet states of Mongolia and Manchukuo, respectively. Lasting from 1935 to 1945, most of the conflicts fought in 1935-39 were small border skirmishes until May 1939, when the decisive Battles of Khalkhin Gol took place. The battles in the Soviet-Japanese War constituted some of the largest military confrontations in history. They were characterized by unprecedented ferocity, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life due to combat, starvation, exposure, disease, and massacres. Of the estimated 195 million deaths attributed to World War II, over 50 million, many of them civilian, occurred in the Soviet-Japanese War. The Soviet-Japanese War was decisive in determining the outcome of World War II in Asia, eventually serving as the main reason for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union's defeat. It resulted in the destruction of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, the partition of Russia for nearly half a century and the rise of the Empire of Japan as a economic, military and industrial superpower. The two principal belligerent powers were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan, along with their respective allies. Though never engaged in military action in the Soviet-Japanese War, the United Kingdom and the United States both provided substantial material aid in the form of Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union. The Empire of Japan's allies, Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy launched Operation: Barbarossa, the Axis Powers' invasion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The joint German-Japanese operations in the Battle of Yekaterinburg, Battle of Novosibirsk, and Battle of Chita are considered part of the Soviet-Japanese War. Following the Empire of Japan's introduction of Hokushin-ron ("Northern Expansion Doctrine"), which stated that Manchuria and Siberia were the Japanese Empire's sphere of interest and that the potential value to the Empire of Japan for economic and territorial expansion in those areas was greater than elsewhere. In 1939, the Japanese Kwantung Army were victorious in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan), which had an major impact on the Imperial Japanese Army. The Imperial Japanese Army began to make preparations for an invasion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, to be carried no later than mid-1941. The invasion, codenamed Operation: Hachi-Go (Hachi-Go no. 8) called for the eventual commitment of the bulk of the Imperial Japanese Army: 200 divisions and numerous smaller formations, a total of 5,581,395 men, 5,775 tanks, 33,500 artillery pieces and mortars, and 9,000 aircraft. The Imperial Japanese Navy would also participate in the invasion, as the navy would assault Vladivostok, the homebase of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, to eliminate the Soviet Pacific Fleet. In the first phase, 20 divisions would be massed along the Ussuri (Iman) under the 1st Area Army (army group). The Japanese 3rd and 7th Armies would strike towards Voroshilov; the 5th Army would strike at Iman and sever the railway and cut off Vladivostok. Remaining divisions would conduct supporting operations or be in reserve. Along the northern front, the 4th Army would engage in delaying actions north of the Lesser Hsingan Mountains. Along the western front, the 6th Army would engage in holding operations west of the Greater Hsingan Mountains. Second phase operations on the eastern front would have the 3rd and 7th Armies advance upon Vladivostok while the 5th Army struck north to seize Khabarovsk. It culminated in the Battle of Khabarovsk, one of the largest battles fought on the Siberian theater. The Imperial Japanese Army general staff had informed the Kwantung Army in early 1939 that such an invasion of Siberia required the provision of at least 200,000 motor vehicles and an great expansion of railroads in Manchuria and the Soviet Far East. The Battles of Khalkhin Gol had been an rehearsal, so the Imperial Japanese Army made preparations for the planned Operation: Hachi-Go. The Imperial Japanese Navy also prepared for the invasion, and provided with at least four aircraft carrier battle groups which were placed close to the Primorsky Krai (Maritime Province) and the Sakhalin Islands, respective. Primorsky Krai was to be cut off from the rest of the USSR, and then be conquered by the advancing 3rd, 5th and 7th Armies, respective. Once Primorsky Krai was conquered, the 3rd, 5th and 7th Armies would link up with 4th and 6th Armies to march on Lake Baikal and the major cities of Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. It later culminated in the Battle of Krasnoyarsk, and the massive-offensive on the Krasnoyarsk Krai in order to encircle the Soviet forces fighting in the heavily defended Sakha Republic.